Equuleus is a constellation in the night sky that is visible. Its name comes from the Latin word foal, which means "small horse." It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the second-century astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, and it is now one of the 88 contemporary constellations. It is located in the northern celestial hemisphere. With a surface area of about 72 square degrees, it is the second smallest of the modern constellations (after Crux). It's also incredibly faint, with no stars brighter than magnitude four.
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History and Mythology
Equuleus is associated with the foal Celeris (meaning "swiftness" or "speed"), who was the son or sibling of the winged horse Pegasus, according to Greek mythology. Mercury bestowed Celeris upon Castor. According to other legends, Equuleus is the horse that was struck by Poseidon's trident during the struggle between him and Athena to determine who was the greater. Equus Primus, or the First Horse, is the name given to this section of stars because it rises before Pegasus. Equuleus is also tied to Philyra's and Saturn's narratives. (Olcott 2004) It abuts Pegasus and was created by Hipparchus and incorporated by Ptolemy; unlike the larger horse, it is represented as a single horse's head. (Ridpath & Tirion 2001) The stars that correspond to Equuleus are found within the Black Tortoise of the North (北方玄武, Běi Fāng Xuán Wǔ) in Chinese astronomy. |
Deep-sky Objects
NGC 7015 – Spiral Galaxy
NGC 7040 – Spiral Galaxy
NGC 7046 – Barred Spiral Galaxy
Several Very faint small Galaxies would be beyond amateur telescopes
Main stars - 3
Bayer stars - 10
Stars with planets - 2
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - 0
Stars within 32 ly - 0
Bordering
constellations
NGC 7015 – Spiral Galaxy
NGC 7040 – Spiral Galaxy
NGC 7046 – Barred Spiral Galaxy
Several Very faint small Galaxies would be beyond amateur telescopes
Main stars - 3
Bayer stars - 10
Stars with planets - 2
Stars brighter than magnitude 3.00 - 0
Stars within 32 ly - 0
Bordering
constellations
- Aquarius
- Delphinus
- Pegasus